Email automation workflows are automated emails that are sent to help nurture leads into customers. They are very important when it come to inbound marketing. So, if you want a successful inbound strategy, you really should be using them. Here are all the benefits of email automation workflows.

1. It's automatic

One of the biggest benefits of email workflows is they are automatic. After they've been set up, you can choose a specific criteria to trigger the workflows. You don't need someone to click send and you can rely on the email automation to work 24/7.

2. Nurturing leads

Email workflows are designed to nurture your leads.

Some businesses get their sales team to contact new leads immediately before it goes cold. But sometimes, these leads are not ready to be contacted by a salesperson. Just because a contact has downloaded a free how-to guide from your website, doesn't mean they want to talk to your sales team.

Email workflows nurture your leads by sending them helpful information by email. If these emails are relevant and engaging, the contact will learn more about your business and service, and be more receptive when they are approached by your sales team.

3. Benefits sales team

As email workflows are designed to nurture potential customers, this hugely benefits your salespeople. They can see what emails and content the lead has read and engaged with. There's a higher chance the lead will be interested by what your business has to offer.

Some email workflow tools, like HubSpot, will send internal emails to employees if/when an email recipient makes a specific action. For example, if one person has completed a free demo form it would suggest they are ready to be approached by a member of your sales team, your email workflow can automatically send an email to them so they know it's time to pick up the phone.

4. Relevant to the email recipient

When you start planning your email workflows, you can make sure they are entirely relevant to the people who will be receiving them.

It's irritating when you receive several emails from a company that are irrelevant and unhelpful. Most people will then unsubscribe or send your emails to their spam folder.

Your email workflows will nurture more people if it's relevant to what the recipient is interested in.

Want to start planning your email workflow? In our free inbound starter pack, we provide an email workflow worksheet which you can use to map out your workflow. Download the complete pack to start planning your email automation workflow.

5. Increases brand awareness

When the email contact receives helpful and relevant emails from your workflow, they will naturally have a greater awareness and understanding of your business.

So, when it's time for a salesperson to contact them, they will know exactly who and what your business is, and they will likely be more interested in what you've got to say.

6. Personalisation

In some email workflow tools, you can personalise your emails.

In personalised email workflows, when an email is automatically sent, it will have personalisation tokens that are filled with the contact's information. Instead of saying, 'Hi, there,' the email will instead say, 'Hi, Bill.'

Some email workflow tools can also add other personal information like location, the company they work for and much more.

7. Carefully planned email strategy

While some companies just like to send the occasional email to their contact database, email workflows are carefully planned and have one key goal. It benefits your overall email marketing strategy because with each workflow you have the opportunity to plan out how they will work and ensure each email is relevant and has a purpose.

8. Reduces errors

If you currently have one person writing and sending emails to new leads, then there is a higher chance mistakes will happen. Writing a person's name incorrectly or making spelling mistakes will cause the email recipient to have less trust in your company.

With email workflows they can be proofed and checked over and over before being put live.

9. Time saving

When everything is automated, it saves employees a lot of time. They can focus on other tasks while the email workflows independently work. You're able to nurture leads and contacts while doing other jobs and then approach your leads when they're ready.

10. Cost saving

Thanks to email automation workflows you can make financial savings. You don't need a large sales team making cold calls everyday, they can approach people when they're ready to be contacted. You don't need additional admin teams ensuring emails are being regularly sent out. Email workflows are an optimised way of marketing to your ideal customers.

With HubSpot you can set up email workflows that will be automatically sent when a specific criteria is met.

In this example, you can see how HubSpot email workflows provide yes/no branches depending on what the email recipient does.

The workflow automatically adds contacts into different lists and there are specific delays put in place so the emails are sent over a specific period of time.

There is no need for manual work or supervision. Once all the rules are put in place the HubSpot workflows does everything independently.

One of the things we love about HubSpot is that they regularly update their tools to make them better and easier to use.

Ready to create your own email automation workflow?

Now you've seen the benefits of email automation workflows, try creating your own. In our free inbound starter pack, we have an email workflow template you can use to plan your workflows (along with other inbound marketing templates). Download your free pack.